Bernardo Bertolucci heads up the distinguished jury that chose the winners of the Action4Climate documentary competition

WASHINGTON, October 30, 2014--Ten young film crews from ten different countries were chosen as winners in the Action4Climate documentary competition. Their outstanding and unique films inspire the world to take action on climate change.

“These talented young film makers connect to their audience in emotional and powerful ways about the dangers of climate change. They have done serious, important work, which shows that climate change could result in a world that is unrecognizable today, and that we need act now to protect the planet for future generations,” said Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group

The Action4Climate competition was launched in early 2014 by Connect4Climate (www.connect4climate.org), the global climate change communications program. It attracted hundreds of entries from all around the world. Italian film director and screenwriter, Bernardo Bertolucci, chaired a renowned jury of film makers tasked with choosing winning films in two age categories.

“We were amazed by the originality of the stories and the genuine concern shown by these young film makers about the effects of climate change. They described the effects of climate change from hundreds of different points of view. Selecting winners was an almost impossible task,” said Bernardo Bertolucci, Academy Award and Golden Globe Winning Director

In the 18 -35 age category, the $15,000 top prize went to the Portuguese film maker Gonçalo Tocha with his provocative film “The Trail of a Tale” made in collaboration with Imagine2020 and the New Economics Foundation. This inspiring story revolves around a letter written in the future to society today.

Dobrin Kashavelov from Bulgaria won second place and a cash prize of $10,000 with “Global Warning,” a harrowing film about the catastrophic effects on survivors of last year’s typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Third place and a $5,000 prize was awarded to American filmmaker Nathan Dappen for “Snows of the Nile”, a documentary following Nathan’s adventures uncovering indisputable evidence of the fast disappearing glaciers of Uganda’s ‘mountains of the moon’.

“I am immensely proud to be chosen as the winner and really hope my film helps people realize that we need to act now to protect our future.” Gonçalo Tocha

In the younger 14 -17 age group, “The Violin Player” took top spot. This beautifully animated film was the brainchild of Francina Ramos, a young Argentinian film maker and her co-producer/composer Benjamin Braceras. Second place went to “Facing the Flood” by Constantin Huet from Switzerland, an investigative account of the changing conditions in Greenland and the Maldives. Georgia’s Tura Tegerashivili was awarded third place for the whimsical “It’s Easy if You Try”. All prize winners receive production equipment and software to help them hone their skills and talents and inspire them to create more climate change stories.

“What an amazing honor! I am so excited. I hope The Violin Player makes people want to stand up and tackle climate change,” said Francina Ramos.

The jury included filmmakers Atom Egoyan, Marc Forster, Mika Kaurismaki, Fernando Meirelles, Mira Nair, Bob Rafelson, Walter Salles, Pablo Trapero and Wim Wenders, along with film executives Rose Kuo and Cynthia Lopez, and World Bank Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Rachel Kyte. They felt the standard in the competition was so high that a special prize was awarded to “Balud” by Panx Solajes from the Philippines, for his creative personal reflection of the devastating floods caused by climate change. Connect4Climate also decided that two submissions should be recognized for their ability to present local stories that also have a profound global impact. Special Connect4Climate prizes were awarded to “Tinau” from UK/Kiribati producer Victoria Burns, exploring the grave concerns of small island nations such as Kiribati, and “The Change,” a touching portrayal of the effects on young people in a Vietnamese coastal community made by filmmakers Ha Uyen, Huong Tra, Quang Dung and Quang Phuc.

In addition, the general public were invited to vote online for the People’s Choice Prize. It was won by a team from Brazil for their film “Pachamama” depicting the effects of global warming in their home state of Sao Paulo.
Prizes for the competition were graciously provided by Edison, the Italian power company, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In addition, Vimeo, the video sharing website, is enthusiastically donating Vimeo Plus accounts for one year to all the finalists from developing countries.

The winners will be announced on October 30th at the Sustainia Award Ceremony in the Royal Theater, Copenhagen, celebrating the creation of new solutions for sustainable living. Sustainia, a Scandinavian think-tank, is part of Connect4Climate’s network of more than 200 knowledge partners committed to climate awareness and action. The general public can then see a selection of videos from winners and finalists online and on television, as well as at festivals and events.

“Connect4Climate was tremendously excited by the amount of interest shown in the competition from around the world. It demonstrates the level of concern shown by creative young people and their desire to be involved directly in exposing climate problems and finding lasting solutions. We were also gratified to experience the seamless coming together of international organizations, the private sector and civil society to support and promote the competition, ” said Lucia Grenna, Program Manager, Connect4Climate

It is envisaged that the high standard of the Action4Climate documentaries will help promote greater climate change awareness and inspire viewers to action.

The winning films can all be viewed at www.Action4Climate.org

About Connect4Climate

Connect4Climate (C4C) is a campaign, a coalition and a community dedicated to stimulating local actions that will catalyze larger, international, multifaceted movements to deal with global warming and its impact on the planet. It works with more than 200 partner organizations around the world and is funded by the World Bank Group and the Italian Ministry of the Environment

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